Chapter 46: Chapter 46 – Interlude

Bishop Leonard

Berlin, Germany 

Bishop Leonard was getting more impatient by the day. After the surprise visit by the cardinal of the Church - Antonio, he understood the importance of not getting sidetracked when their goal was so close. To focus on what was important. For example, his son’s awakening ceremony.  He had to act fast and find this heretic.

But finding him proved to be complicated. The little rat had managed to hide quite well in a relatively large country such as Germany. He managed to avoid all the mundane means of detecting him, such as using the phone or being recorded on security cameras.

More and more reports were coming from across Europe, where their agents were looking for this heretic. The agents were overseeing mundane masses and reporting occurrences they thought to be of note - hoping to find the next big thing to rise among their peers and receive accolades and resources for their efforts. 

His musings were interrupted as one of the recent additions to the Berlin hub, a dedicated, recently promoted priest named Jonas, approached him and said, “Your excellency. I apologize for the interruption.” The Bishop glanced at him and waved him to continue. 

“We received a report from Speyer. Again, sir.” 

“And what did it say?” 

“Our agents have reported a mana spike of sorts, sir. They believe it is related to the heretic.”

“And why is that so? The region is a wild one. Natural mana spikes are sure to occur.” 

“They are adamant that there have not been spikes in over five years, thus concluding that only a mage could have caused them.”

“Hmm,” Leonard thought. “It is interesting. Do we trust these agents? What has been their track record?”

“Stellar, sir. They have been performing their duties without fail for the past six years,” the priest answered. 

“Curious. Jonas, I understand you are new and come from our field operations branch, yes?”

“Indeed, sir,” Jonas said and nodded.

“If you believe this report is legitimate, check it out and review the situation.”

“At once, sir!” Jonas said and bowed deeply, starting to walk away. 

“And Jonas?” the Bishop interrupted him.

“Yes, sir?” he turned around, waiting for instruction. 

“Take a portable teleportation circle with you. Just in case you do find something.”

 Jonas nodded and walked out of the central hub toward the storage room.

- - - 

Jonas

Jonas always thought that God worked in mysterious ways. Ever since he was a child, Jonas believed a higher power must have chosen him to make the world a better place once he discovered that magic was within him. 

He shared his discovery with his Sunday school teacher, a priest, who offered a place in the Church’s ranks as a lowly church boy in training, which he immediately accepted. 

When he reached eight years of age, Jonas received an offer to go through a core formation ritual. Knowing the chances of succession, he jumped on the opportunity anyway, believing God had chosen him. 

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Ever since forming his core, he worked tirelessly to prove his worth to the Church. This attitude allowed him to quickly rise through the ranks and receive an offer to be a priest in a small town north of Berlin. One trained for field duties and thus taught the required spells. 

He learned the simplest of spells utilizing his light and fire affinities, as well as simple healing spells that allowed him to take pity on commoners who were seeking his blessing. All the while, he waited for an opportunity to discover something meaningful to prove himself further.

Soon, he was transferred to Berlin headquarters when leadership noticed his input in the local church, thinking his talents were wasted by being there. Shortly, news of a heretic appearing in the middle of Berlin shocked Jonas that they still emerged. 

He dedicated his time to find this heretic, thinking this was his one chance to show his worth and be offered the position of deacon. After countless hours with the grunts, reviewing the numerous reports, he finally found what he was looking for. 

In the lonely town of Speyer, some of their agents reported a mana spike that should not have happened. Next to the large Black Forest, a place where the free mages, heretics of the old, hid in the past. 

A fitting place for a rat to hide from the all-viewing eye of the god. After reporting this finding to the esteemed bishop Leonard, he was surprised that he was assigned to check this report out personally.

Once Jonas arrived in town, he did not lose time and met up with the local informants immediately. They were muds, let in on the secret of magic, and given tools to monitor the masses around them, which allowed them to fit right in. Few of them were shop owners and thus knew the locals well. 

Jonas immediately discovered some new elements in town not seen before. This was not a big deal, given how much muds traveled these days. However, together with the mana spike? It raised some suspicions, along with the fact that a pair of travelers were buying everything you need to survive in the wilderness in bulk.

He quickly tracked down the men in question and found them driving around in an old beat-up VW pickup.  Feeling that these were the people he was looking for, he followed them and cast a tracking spell on the truck.

The spell took him to a cabin in the forest. A place he had no hope of finding on his own. Choosing to observe from a distance, Jonas approached the house from the back and was surprised to see a boy in the garden practicing magic. 

Jonas was shocked as the boy matched the description and photo of the heretic he was looking for. He almost started casting a spell to capture the rat but was interrupted by what the boy was doing. 

Without gestures or chant, the boy before him lifted a simple leaf above his palm. Next, he caused the wind to raise it higher and shred it to bits. But he did not stop there. Jonas observed as the boy took a silly stance, bending his knees and extending his hand before him, closing his eyes. 

Next, he could see how his palm radiated heat just before a ball of fire started to form. Jonas was shocked at the display. All of their resources had indicated that this heretic did not know of their world, let alone spells. Though, he was standing right there. Casting a spell not all of their deacons could perform - a fireball, crude, sure. 

The ball of fire had formed fully in a second, and the boy opened his eyes. He started to throw it. However, before he could finish the move, the ball expanded and blew up in his face, throwing him against the tree. Jonas did not move a muscle, waiting to see what had happened to the boy. Maybe he killed himself and did the deed without Jonas needing to act? 

Alas, no. The boy stood up. In a second, he wobbled and fainted back on the ground. Jonas thought, ‘This is my chance. I must capture him. Now!’ He started to move but was interrupted by people running out of the cabin. 

He saw a young girl with platinum blonde hair, roughly the boy’s age, running toward and checking up on him. Jonas confirmed that it was the missing Heidi Aer from the reports he had seen. She was followed by the same two men he tracked here. 

Seeing that he stood little chance of simply capturing the boy without raising a fuss, Jonas did what he had always done best. He moved away from the site to report using a communication crystal. To his surprise, Bishop Leonard took his call. “Well? What is the status, young Jonas?” he asked. 

“I have found him, your excellency,” Jonas whispered in the crystal. “The boy has progressed further from what was available in our reports and has already started casting spells! I was unable to capture him.”

“Was he alone?”

“No, sir. The young Heidi Aer and two men we have not recorded are here. I am inclined to believe that one of them was a mage. Blue core.”

The Bishop did not wait and instructed, “Lay down the teleportation array. Make haste, but avoid being seen. I am coming in person. Get ready for an assault.”

“At once, sir,” Jonas said and cut the communication, getting the array out of his simple travel bag. He started laying it down at the same place he made the call. The whole setup took him less than five minutes. In a second, he powered the thing, connecting the mana crystals. The array made a connection, casting white-blue light, and Bishop Leonard stepped out and said, “Where is he? Point the way!”

Jonas took him back to the cabin not far away and pointed, “They are inside, sir. Should we wait for reinforcements?”

“No need. They are already coming. Lead them here. I will start without you,” Leonard said and started casting a grand-mage level spell, Heaven’s judgment. Jonas had read about it only in books and knew the devastation it would cause. The cabin would be reduced to rubble. 

Jonas looked up above the cabin and saw a circle, roughly twenty by twenty meters. It opened up, and a ball of roaring fire fell toward the back of the cabin, casting the judgment of their god on the unbelieving heretic. The fire impacted something solid around the cabin, a barrier of sorts, and exploded, throwing Jonas back and knocking him out.

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